Last night a Denial of Service or DOS attack considered the most significant attack since 2002 on the computers that direct traffic on the internet, failed to result in any significant loss of service to internet users.
DOS attacks attempt to overwhelm internet root servers with requests and information, which can slow down the network response. The attacks began last night and lasted approximately 12 hours.
The attack was believed to be from Asia. Thirteen internet ‘root’ servers that serve as the internet’s central address books were only slightly affected.
“It was a significant and concerted attack, but the average internet user would have barely noticed,” said Paul Levins, Icann Corporation VP of Corporate Affairs. Icann is the internet company that assigns IP names and numbers. “Ironically, the system gets stronger and better because of the attacks as we’re constantly upgrading the
technology,” Mr. Levins said.
The two servers targeted are operated by the US Defense Department and by Icann. The US homeland security department confirmed it was monitoring unusual volumes of internet traffic.
“There is no credible intelligence to suggest an imminent threat to the homeland or our computing systems at this time,” said an unnamed US defense department spokesperson said in a statement.
“… there was very little impact on the general public, the servers were able to hold up against the attacks. The internet in general was designed to even withstand a nuclear attack,” Zully Ramzan, a researcher at Symantec, told CNET News.com.
Sources: Paul Levins, Iccan; Mark Tran, Guardian Unlimited; Zully Ramzan, Symantec; Unnamed source at US Defense Department, CNET News